EU pork exportsslowed down for the second consecutive month in August this year, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat, AHDB Pork reported.

Data showed that after hitting a new record in June, shipments fell back nearly a quarter in August to 180,000 tonnes, which were also lower than July's 189,000 tonnes (see graph below).

"This is the lowest level since February but remains higher than any month before the start of this year. It was also 27% higher than in the same month last year", the pork division of the UK Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board said.

It said the drop in shipments was largely due to a slowdown in sales to China, although they remained well above last year's level, up by two-thirds compared with August 2015. Sales to other Asian markets such as Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines, were also higher than last year.

AHDB Pork said that offal exports were less affected by a slowdown, up 18% year-on-year in August, a similar rate of growth to that seen in the previous months of the year. It added that Greater China now accounts for over three-quarters of total sales, with mainland China taking over 60%.

Among smaller markets, Korea and Thailand took more EU offal than a year before but the Philippines and Vietnam took less.

The value of offal shipments in August increased nearly a third year-on-year to €411.3 million (US$447.34 million) and, together with other pig meat products, total value of exports was €639.1 million ($695.1 million), up 28% on August 2015. The higher values reflected the increased unit prices for pork exports.